An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus displaying a body mark and a probe mark by the side of an acquired ultrasonic image is known. The probe mark is superimposed on the body mark, and indicates a position of an ultrasonic probe on a subject by showing a positional relation with the body mark. Therefore, by watching a probe mark on a body mark, an operator can identify the location of a scan plane related to an acquired ultrasonic image. Especially, in an examination of a breast or four limbs, identifying a scan plane by an ultrasonic image is very difficult. Therefore, displaying a body mark and a probe mark is very efficient for identifying a scan plane.
In a known ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, in order to display a probe mark correctly, a three dimensional positioning system is used for detecting a position of an ultrasonic probe in real time. (For example, see JP2005-118142 and JP2005-169070.)
By the way, in a mass examination of a breast, a doctor must examine as many as possible of subjects as soon as possible. Therefore, in a recent mass examination, in order to improve examination efficiency, the examination is divided into a first examination and a second examination. The second examination is executed in the case that there is an abnormal finding and the second examination seeks to obtain a judgment as to whether the abnormal finding is benign or malignant.
Therefore, in the first examination, in order not to overlook an abnormal finding, a doctor must scan through all parts of a subject's breast. However, because a doctor concentrates on an ultrasonic image displayed on a monitor, the doctor cannot pay enough attention to operation of the ultrasonic probe, which often leads to a missed scan.
In performing the first examinations, there is a case that a doctor stores a moving ultrasonic image in accordance with continuous movement of an ultrasonic probe. Therefore, a moving image is stored while a continuous moving of an ultrasonic probe is executed. After finishing scan of all parts of the breast, many moving images are stored in a memory of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
Therefore, for an interpretation of images after examination, a doctor must search an ultrasonic image of a desirable scan plane from many moving images. In this case, the doctor refers to a body mark and a probe mark displayed as a thumbnail attached to a last ultrasonic image of a moving image.
However, because the probe mark displayed on a thumbnail is immovable, a doctor cannot identify a moving direction of an ultrasonic probe by watching the thumbnail. Therefore, in a case that ultrasonic imaging related to a desired scan plane exists in the middle of a moving image, image searching is troublesome and this leads to a decrease in examination efficiency.